Hey! Soon starting my K-1 visa process for my British fiancée

[vponce 8]

Been with my fiancée going on five years now. I just got back from a six month visit to the UK a month ago and we recently decided that we will begin her transition over to the US since the other way around (me to the uk) isn't financially possible.

My main concerns revolve around the costs of all this. For her, she is going to be finishing university over there in a few months and has student overdraft and credit card overdraft. The only job she's worked through her education is just a part time customer service job.

For myself, being just recently back in the US I have only just started a $10.50/hr job at Amazon. With that said, there is a strong possibility that during the visa process that my job will change since I going to be taking up EMT training.

Another concern is address changes during the process as well. Right now I am staying with my parents until I can purchase a car then will be moving into an apartment. On her side, her flats lease will be ending after her graduation and there is a chance she will be staying with her father for the remainder of the visa application process. I'm hesitate to start the application process before we move but hearing how long it can take (over six months?) it would be better starting it sooner than later with her residential situation.

If anyone has been in a similar situation I would really appreciate some advice on what to do here. I've never filled out any sort of visa and it all seems pretty daunting.

[Pitaya 2,577]

Welcome to the forum.

[KASH2011 382]

Welcome to VJ! Good luck to you!

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

Costs

K1 London route = $1705 + £295

$340 (USCIS) I-129F petition

£45 (ACPO) Police certificate just before petition approval

£250 (Knightsbridge Doctors) medical exam. Pay at exam.

$265 (Embassy) Visa fee prior to interview. Online pay.

$30 Courier fee if home delivery, $0 to pick up at a depot. Online.

$1070 (USCIS) Adjustment of Status/Work Authorization/Advance Parole

[yuna628 9,696]

I will assume your fiancé has student loans associated with her time at university? If so, SLC must be notified via form and informed that she has immigrated to the US and will not be eligible to repay her loans for some time because she will not be authorized to work in the US yet (and you, or any cosponsor do not have a responsibility to pay it for her). They will typically reassess her status every year until the time she earns enough money to repay the loan. She'd also need to inform the HMRC via form right before she leaves, and she may receive a tax refund. I don't know how she'd handle any credit bills, but I would assume she'd need to continue paying in some way.

The Amazon job sounds as if it is above minimum wage. At the moment you must be earning 100% above the poverty line for K1 and then after marriage, when it comes time to file for adjustment 125% above. If you feel your circumstances will be changing, London will accept cosponsors if you have someone willing and not enough funds. They will also accept self sponsorship on her part if that was feasible. Adjustment of status also accepts joint sponsors. https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/files/form/i-864p.pdf

If you feel it more prudent to wait until you have more stable home environment that is a decision you'd both have to make for yourselves. The government needs to know where you both reside. Mail will need to be sent to you and mail will need to be sent to her.

I can also say that the K1 process is not currently taking as long as it used to. You can look at how long it took for me, for instance. Mighty long time. That is because before early last year all applications used to be split between two service centers for processing. The fast one and the slow one. A lot of complaining ended up changing this for an undetermined amount of time. Now all applications get moved to the fast one and may be processed in a few weeks to a few months. Then there would be the rest of the process to complete on the UK side. That speed usually stays pretty constant, so a few months more give or take.

Like most, filing these forms also seemed like a challenge, but through following the guides here, reading carefully, and asking questions there were no issues.

Edited February 28, 2016 by yuna628

[Lenny&Sanna 114]

Welcome to the forums and good luck on your journey

[TBoneTX 45,826]

Echo in here: welcome to the forum.